Hi guys I need a little tech support for my friend. When he powers on the pc the fans spin but then the pc shuts off, then he powers on again then the pc shuts off again. Then the 3rd time he powers on the pc it works. This happens every time he powers it up recently and he has not added any components or overclocked. I have already ruled out slow spinning fans, and he always leaves the power switch on the psu to on position. I asked him this because my enermax will not power on without keeping the psu switch always on. Thanks 4 any tech support good friends!

Hi guys I need a little tech support for my friend. When he powers on the pc the fans spin but then the pc shuts off, then he powers on again then the pc shuts off again. Then the 3rd time he powers on the pc it works. This happens every time he powers it up recently and he has not added any components or overclocked. I have already ruled out slow spinning fans, and he always leaves the power switch on the psu to on position. I asked him this because my enermax will not power on without keeping the psu switch always on. Thanks 4 any tech support good friends!

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Well I would recommend checking that no connections have come loose, but the most likely culprit for me from hearing that description could be that the hard drive is taking too long to spin up - although I would have expected this to bring up a message rather than rebooting. Try running some SMART tests on the drive (speed fan lets you do this as well as a few other applications) and see what results you get.

also take a look at the capacitors around the processor for bulging/leakage, while this is supposed to be quite a rare occurence i have had this happen to me a while back on a leadtek k7ncr18dpro2 (athlon xp board) and have seen it happen to 2 other people's computers i know. when it happened to my leadtek the thing still worked for a year or so after they started leaking but done the 3-4 power up attempts for the last 3 months before it died completely however, the hard drive thing does seem more likely

also take a look at the capacitors around the processor for bulging/leakage, while this is supposed to be quite a rare occurence i have had this happen to me a while back on a leadtek k7ncr18dpro2 (athlon xp board) and have seen it happen to 2 other people's computers i know. when it happened to my leadtek the thing still worked for a year or so after they started leaking but done the 3-4 power up attempts for the last 3 months before it died completely however, the hard drive thing does seem more likely

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HDD SMART doesn't power down the system, it usually just locks the POST up at the title screen.

Causes for a quick shutdown could be inadequate PSU, leaky caps, or possibly overheating CPU.

Caps can be replaced by someone that knows how to solder them, but you def. need to be sure to get the same caps for any that are to be replaced, and don't cook em while soldering them back on.

I've saved a few mobos this way.. and wouldn't suprise me, if its an AXP/older P4 mobo. (infact, I have a pretty leaky cap mobo sitting right here )

Thank you all for your time and suggestions here, they are very good opinions. You guys that are speaking of bulging or leaky caps I have a question myself about this, the boards with leaky caps-would you know if these boards were used in lengthy burn-in sessions to burn-in a cpu? It makes me wonder if this could be a cause of that because the electrical system is at a maximum for it's cpu and/or voltage tolerance.

Thank you all for your time and suggestions here, they are very good opinions. You guys that are speaking of bulging or leaky caps I have a question myself about this, the boards with leaky caps-would you know if these boards were used in lengthy burn-in sessions to burn-in a cpu? It makes me wonder if this could be a cause of that because the electrical system is at a maximum for it's cpu and/or voltage tolerance.

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Bulging caps are caused by breaking the temperature threshold and boiling the inside materials (Usually well over 110C. if your case is this hot, your CPU is dead first), or defective workmanship.

but the one componant which i have been suss on is the PSU which is rated at 400watts.
It is a SilentX IXtrema , it was not a cheap PSU by any means, as it was *apparently* the quietest available on the market.....
but take my word for it, SilentX are overpriced !.

Anyway i have not been able to afford a PSU , as i am still paying this bloody rig off on CCard.

This has caused nothing short of hell for me over the last year, this rig has been stable as a AHDD suffering African tree monkey on crack.

Now this is how i power up my rig, should it be turnt-off *which is rarely lately as you would guess*

I just had pretty much the same problem on a new box I built, except mine never got to the part where it actually powered up. Just a little spin of the fans and it would die. I returned the 500W power supply (Antec SmartPower 2) and replaced it with a 650W power supply (Antec TruePower Trio) and everything works perfectly. So I would advise you to be very suspicious of the PS.